Black Box Explains… Category 7/Class F

Category 7/Class F (ISO/IEC 11801:2002) specifies a frequency range of 1–600 MHz over 100 meters of fully shielded twisted-pair cabling. It encompasses four individually shielded pairs inside an overall shield, called Shielded/Foiled Twisted Pair (S/FTP) or Foiled/ Foiled Twisted Pair (F/FTP). There is a pending class Fa, based on the use of S/FTP cable to 1000 MHz. It can support 10GBASE-T transmissions.

With both types of cable, each twisted pair is enclosed in foil. In S/FTP cable, all four pairs are encased in an overall metal braid. In F/FTP, the four pairs are encased in foil.

Category 7/Class F cable can be terminated with two interface designs as specified in IEC 6063-7-7 and IEC 61076-3-104. One is an RJ-45 compatible GG-45 connector. The other is the more common TERA connector, which was launched in 1999.

Category 7/Class F is backwards compatible with traditional CAT6 and CAT5 cable, but it has far more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise. The fully shielded cable virtually eliminates crosstalk between the pairs. In addition, the cable is noise resistant, which makes the Category 7/Class F systems ideal for high EMI areas, such as industrial and medical imaging facilities.
Category 7/Class F cable can also increase security by preventing the emission of data signals from the cable to nearby areas.